HIAC injuries, Interview with Dreamer, NXT stars scanned for action figures, HBK responds to fan backlash, Cena makes WHC vow, Ryback heels IWC, Cabana tryout?, Smackdown audience and Questions on indies vs. WWE, burying Ziggler, TNA's ring, the cost of going on the road and working the SEC

Big E Langston and Dean Ambrose both required medical attention after their match. Langston received stitches. Neither will miss ring time. Tough business.

Tommy Dreamer had an interview recently. Here are some highlights. Maybe I'm just giddy, but the porn story struck me as amusing. As for WWE and TNA "screwing over the audience", it'd be different if they didn't deliver the matches they promised. They do. They just do endings designed to set up rematches. It's the whole "unfinished business" thing. The idea of House of Hardcore being a major promotion is intriguing. It could be a long way away, but any change in the current national landscape would be something to spice things up. As for Rosita, I enjoyed what little I saw of her in TNA. I certainly wouldn't be against WWE giving her a tryout. She's young and shows both fire and commitment.

Mattel scanned a solid number of NXT talents for potential future action figures if/when those talents make it to the main roster. I wonder how an NXT line would sell? Either way, that's very smart on Mattel's part. There are certainly some talents there who would be cool to see in action figure form. Paige, Bayley, Scott Dawson, Enzo Amore...

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Shawn Michaels is not booked for Smackdown. As much as I would LOVE to see HBK vs. Bryan, I'm not going to get my hopes up.

Speaking of HBK, he responded to some marks who got worked by the ending to Hell in a Cell. Examples here and here. IWC mad as hell.

John Cena made a vow to bring added prestige to the admittedly fledgling World Heavyweight Championship. I'm down with that idea. It's sad that it took Cena returning and winning it for WWE to push it as important.

Ryback addressed the resentment toward HIAC. For some reason it's become the norm to relentlessly bash the 10% of shows that didn't go like the IWC wanted while ignoring how great everything else was. I don't get how a couple of minutes of a controversial ending erases 20+ minutes of great action between two of the world's top competitors.

It's being reported that Colt Cabana's WWE announcer tryout is still set for sometime in the future. I'd definitely prefer him behind the announce table to some people who currently hold that JoBL.

Smackdown was up to 2.68 million viewers this week. Not a bad number. It's been quite a while since they were around the 3 million mark.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Considering that by their definition, indies aren't national promotions with big TV deals and revenue streams, I don't think they'll take a huge dent out of what WWE does. Heck, a lot of their top stars end up working somewhere where they can make more money. WWE is Wal-Mart or McDonald's. There are other options out there, and some would argue that those options are better, but a lot of people will go to the big "one size fits all" option.

2. Because WWE is petty and holds grudges. They want to punish Ziggler publicly where millions can see it. What's Ziggler going to do? Go to TNA? WWE's in a position now with no one really biting on their heels, so they can get away with a lot of things they get away with and they'll still have a loyal following. Not as big of a following as they COULD have, but a big and loyal following. Note that most of the audience doesn't follow the wrestling news media and doesn't know about Ziggler having heat. They just watch the shows, etc.

3. There's a "TNA existing in two years" joke here, but I won't make it. I really don't see any reason for TNA to go back to the six-sided ring. Yes, it's unique. That's not enough. Doing every match as a strap match would be unique, too. But that would be really stupid.

4.

Pic related; it's the person who asked this question. Uneducated questions like this are why people like Eric Bischoff bash the IWC as clueless. WCW didn't have HD technology, etc. to worry about the way that TNA does. TNA's not going bankrupt. Also the things they said. It's far from cheap to do what WWE does (which is part of why a lot of companies don't do it).

5. The angle was that Shane bought WCW and (along with Stephanie) sold his WWF stock to Flair. I guess the SEC knew it was an angle with no basis in reality?

More wrestling tomorrow.